Vista Beta for SBSC?

Hi,

We are less than 6 months away from RTM of Vista, and still we know little about it.

Just like you showcased it for us in Manchester, is there any possiblilty of making the Beta available for SBSC members?, or even a demo CD of the various screen shots so that we can answer questions that we encounter.


When we offer the Win XP solution now, with SA clients can upgrade, but the small guys are being put off SA because:

a) they don't know what Vista is all about, so why buy "insurance" for the unknown benefits
b) once they have XP bedded in, they cannot be bothered with the hassle of the upgrade/change/training etc
c) we don't have the answers for them regarding what Vista will give them and how it will add value

Perhaps, as an interim, a clear & concise info sheet containing the features, benefits and some screen shots may be useful to have in our bag for when we visit clients?

Regards



Andrew

Andrew,

this is a favourite set of technologies of mine.  There is a huge (and I mean huge) amount of information on the Microsoft web sites:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/whatsnew/rssfeed.aspx?windowsvista_en-us - updates RSS feed

In terms of timescales, the official line is still "for Holiday 2006".  Don't fear on training, but the licensing messages I will pull out and get them on this site soon.

As for beta code, Beta 2 is not far off and this will be available to almost everyone I believe, but this is not confirmed just yet (if it is not, I will work to get it for all SBSC member, honest)

good call

 

thanks

David

Brilliant, thank you.

It would a favourite for you - you get to use Vista 12 months before the other 6 billion potential "users" on the planet!

And I guess the answer to SA is to highlight the SBS SA options which will keep them current for all of their softwares, not just the upgrade path to Vista?

Thanks again



Andrew

Andrew,

You can always register for the Beta, or subscribe to Technet.

Reminds me, I wonder if the SBSC can get a good discount on Technet subscriptions?   ;-)

I see certifed partners get a good discount - any chance of that getting that the SBSC?

(Just cos I am big geek and I love my current works Technet arrivals!)

Cheers

Jules

Cheers Jules, but I tried to register for the Vista Beta but it was for cert/gold partners only or developers I recall.

I guess I could always have a sneak preview with a mates technet and produce a quickie video  for my next onsite presentation, I just thought it would have been nice thats all, since my developer chum is a bit reclusive (very geeky)

i am over to Leeds in a week of so for a partner showcase event "Vista for Managers" - hopefully I can blag some ideas and maybe some freebies from them :-)

Cheers



Andrew

Replying to myself  now :-) , for I now have a beta copy of Vista, and it is currently churning away installing on a spare box.

Picked it up at a Gold Partner MS sponsored event yesterday.  The event was ok, but I learnt more in David's recent Vista presentation in 30 minutes, than I did yesterday in half a day!

At least, now I can include a few screen shots in my next newsletter, cool

Regards


Andrew

We had announced that Vista Beta 2 will ship in the 1st half of this year, and that does not leave much time.  I am running one of the candidates for the beta and I feel very confident that it will be released very soon.

I am going to change the forum names and have one for XP and one for Vista - and I will do the same for Office 2003 / Office 2007.

ttfn

 

David